1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a syringe structure including an assembly of indicia extending along a common wall portion of the syringe barrel and including a first indicia section and a second indicia section. A segregating section enables a contrast in the appearance of the indicia sections, thereby facilitating a viewing of the first indicia section and common wall portion through the interior of the syringe barrel and a viewing of the second indicia section from an exterior of the syringe barrel, along a line of sight directed towards an exterior surface of the common wall portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
A syringe, as commonly used in the medical profession, typically includes an elongated, hollow interior body or barrel having one end structured to receive a needle or alternatively include a converging luer, nozzle or like structure. The opposite end of the barrel is adapted to movably receive a plunger structure on the interior thereof. Moreover, the plunger structure includes a head portion movably disposed in fluid sealing engagement with interior surfaces of the barrel. The plunger also includes an elongated rod wherein the outer or free end thereof is structured to facilitate manipulation by a user's hand and/or fingers. As a result of the interaction between the plunger structure and the syringe barrel, a liquid medication or other fluid material may be drawn into the interior of the barrel and forced outwardly therefrom for delivery to a patient, IV container, etc.
As should be apparent, a determination of the measurement of the volume or quantity of the liquid contents within the barrel is frequently critical. Such an accurate determination is specifically, but not exclusively, required when a medication is being delivered to a patient. Moreover, there are situations where self medication is a common occurrence, such as in the case of an individual suffering from diabetes, wherein blurred or diminished vision is a recognized symptom. In cases such as these the accurate determination of the quantity of medication contained within the syringe may be critical. In order to overcome problems associated with accurate volume measurement of the contents of a syringe barrel, common structural features of syringe structures have included the provision of indicia disposed on the barrel in a manner and location which hopefully facilitates its reading and/or visual observation.
Accordingly in order to facilitate ease of reading the included volume measuring indicia, various structures and/or techniques have been applied to the manufacture of medical syringes which establish a sufficient visual contrast between the indicia and the structure of the barrel and/or the stopper or head of the plunger assembly. By virtue of such contrast, accurate determination of volume measurement of the contained fluid within the barrel is more reliable and efficiently accomplished. In addition, conventional syringes of the type set forth hereinafter have included various structures to improve a reliable reading, through visual determination, of the volume measuring indicia. In most instances, the material from which the syringe barrel is formed is transparent and the indicia formed on some portion of the barrel typically includes a contrasting color or other appearance which attempts to render visual observation of the indicia more efficient and effective.
In addition, more recent structuring of syringe assemblies have included the formation of various portions of the plunger specifically including, but not limited to, the plunger head or stopper being formed of a black or darkly colored plastic or like material. In contrast, the arm or shaft of the plunger may be typically formed of a white material, wherein the white color of the plunger arm enhances the visual contrast between this portion of the plunger and the normally darker color of the indicia. However, due to the fact that the volume measurement of the contents of the barrel is frequently, if not exclusively, determined by an aligned orientation of the distal extremity of the plunger head with the indicia, the black or darker color of the plunger head, such as when it is aligned with the darkened indicia, makes it difficult to accurately read the aligned indicia.
Even in light of the various attempted advances in conventional syringe design and manufacture, there still remains a need for improvements specifically, but not exclusively, directed to the structuring of an improved syringe assembly. Proposed improvements should include various operative and/or structural features which facilitate the filling, dispensing and determining of accurate quantities liquid medication and/or other fluid. Such a proposed and improved syringe assembly should therefore include an indicia assembly which accomplishes a reliable and efficient determination of volume measurement. Moreover, such efficient determination should include situations which allow a user of the syringe assembly to view the indicia from each of a plurality of different viewing vantage points. More specifically an improved and proposed syringe assembly and included indicia assembly should facilitate accurate reading of the indicia from at least two different locations of the individual. Moreover, the two different locations may include a viewing along a line of sight passing through the interior of the syringe barrel and the liquid contents contained therein. Alternately, the two different locations may include viewing from an exterior of the syringe barrel, along a line of sight directed towards an exterior surface of the improved syringe barrel. Due to the structuring of the improved indicia assembly, such different viewing locations may allow for an exclusive reading of a predetermined portion of the indicia assembly, wherein different portions of the improved indicia assembly can not be viewed from both of the two different locations.
In addition, the proposed and improved indicia assembly will significantly increase the visual contrast of the indicia assembly and the syringe barrel and/or the plunger structure, thereby enabling a significant savings in cost of material while maintaining a reliable accuracy in determining volume measurement. More specifically, the enhanced contrast of the indicia assembly relative to a remainder of the syringe assembly enables the plunger structure to be formed from other recycled plastic material since the necessity of maintaining the aforementioned bright or white coloring of the plunger structure is no longer a requirement. Therefore, recycled plastic material can be used to form the plunger structure which may result in a plunger structure having a less than totally white appearance, such as a substantially gray-colored appearance. As a result, the plunger structure will not have to be formed from a uniquely preferred plastic material, but rather can be formed from a recycled plastic material resulting in significant savings in material costs.